Fire
by Thoughtless7
Summary: She takes on the traits of humans so she cannot forget humanity. It is something she does to humble herself. However, she has many duties as a deity, and I don't think pursuing her will help any. In fact...I wonder if she would be punished. One-shot.


**A/N: **UWAH I kept putting this off and I hope it doesn't show. D: Anyways, this is a secret Santa gift for DivineJudgment! Angsty Jack/Harvest Goddess. I hope you, and everyone else reading, enjoys!

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**Fire**

There is no doubt that Carter is the first villager to rise on Christmas Day. Before the dawn had cracked, before the first rooster from Barley's farm had crowed, the priest was hard at work polishing his alter and cleaning the pews. He had decorated for the holiday since the start of winter, but he'd made it a point to put up extra decorations on the day itself, for anyone willing to come to church. He finishes after dawn, and from the windows of the church he sees the sun lazily pulling itself above the horizon. Calm and feeling accomplished, he makes himself some tea and sits down, contentedly enjoying the solitude and the warm drink.

However, the solitude is soon interrupted by the _slam _of the church doors flying open. Carter looks up, startled, to see Jack rushing towards him, a very distressed look on his face, to put it lightly. The priest's heart drops – he has a feeling as to what Jack is coming to say.

"Something happened – Carter, s-she – I-I, you have to come look – !" Jack stutters, tripping over himself to get to Carter. His face is tired but his brown eyes are fiery and look to be aching horribly.

Jack quickly notices Carter's anguished expression at his words. He bites his lip, hands shaking and balled into fists. "I'm...I'm sorry..."

He couldn't believe how it had escalated. Just a few weeks ago, he remembers – just a few weeks ago, it seemed so simple. "Carter," he'd called one day, off hand. "Carter, I have a question."

Carter would respond, calm and serene, setting the atmosphere of someone who would listen without judgment. And Jack's story would unfold, day after day. "I think I'm hallucinating. Do you think I'm sick? I saw a woman near the mines – I haven't really visited there much, but it's winter, and without crops to grow I've been going to the forest a lot, just foraging, and the mines.

"Ann was there too, I think – and this beautiful woman, with long green hair and in a dress was calling to me, and Ann said she didn't hear or see anything. What? Yeah, her eyes were bluish-green...she could fly, too...

"The Harvest Goddess? Huh? Is she your deity? That's just...why would _I _have seen her? That would explain her floating and Ann not seeing her...it's better than me going crazy..."

Days had passed, and each day Jack would go to Carter with new stories. "Hey, I saw her again today. She is _really _pretty. She's just got this warm light all around her...it's...comforting. I think I'll go see her tomorrow...she comes for offerings too, so I give her flowers. Is that too –

"What? Am I in love with her? That's...I can't, can I? That isn't allowed, is it?" At this question, Carter could tell he was hoping to be told otherwise. However, the priest had made it a moral of his not to lie.

"From my scriptures," he'd said, sounding dutiful and heavy, "she takes on the traits of humans so she cannot forget humanity. It is something she does to humble herself, so that she does not get drunk on her power. However, she has many duties as a deity, and I don't think pursuing her will help any. In fact...I wonder if she will be punished? For her, duty is first. But if you must know, try asking her..."

Jack had taken his advice. He'd laid a flower in her pond, and on cue, an arm materialized to pick it up, and she rose from the waters. Her braided hair fell splendidly around her; her presence seemed to emanate an unseasonal warmth, and she had looked down at the flower so tenderly that Jack's heart swelled. She looked up and met eyes with him, and she had a flush of the cheeks and an upturn of her lips that made her look like a young girl with her first crush. "It's always a pleasure to see you again, Jack," she had remarked, her voice singsong and happy.

"Goddess, I was wondering something..." Jack had said, a bit nervous. "Since you are...well, I...what do you think of me?"

She had suddenly looked very sad. "I'm sure he told you why I take on this form. It is so I can always relate to those I govern over, and so that I keep humanity. In fact, I was given a human name. But..." She was silent for a moment, then, "I am not to become particularly close to any human. I am not to have my judgment clouded, nor have any bias. I am not to share any romantic love, and I am not to even share what my name is, for it would make me vulnerable, and the consequences would be very..."

She had visibly flinched that day, and said no more on the subject. "Do not come so often; I fear I am growing too fond of you." She'd disappeared then, before Jack could respond.

"I don't know if I'm satisfied," Jack had said to Carter that day, desperate. "I want what's best for her! But...it hurts, not seeing her..."

Carter sighed, with clashing sadness and fondness in his expression. "Everyone in love is the same, no matter what, it seems," he said dryly. "Your hearts both want each other. She probably revealed herself to you at first because of how much of a help you've been to this village – what a good person you are – " Jack had flushed at all the compliments, he remembers – "and she appeared to you to praise you. But now things have spiraled from that completely...

"Avoiding her, you may eventually forget each other, and nothing bad may happen, but it'll be the most heartbreaking torture you'll ever go through. For both of you. And I doubt either of you are satisfied with that answer, anyways. Just know your place, Jack..." Carter had finished softly.

Jack had to think on that. He didn't want her hurt, though – he didn't want her to trouble herself. So he tried to avoid her, and for the winter, he was begrudgingly going through with it. Until the Starry Night Festival.

It was about ten o' clock at night, and Jack had put himself to bed, depressed at the couple's holiday. He tossed, turned, and dreamed, until he could hear it – clear as day, he swore he heard the Goddess. "Jack," she'd whispered, "Jack."

He'd sat up from his bed, eyes bugging out, and bolted from his house to the pond, in pajama bottoms and a thrown-on coat. She wasn't there in his house; was it a dream? It had sounded too real. He panted when he got to her pond, his breath coming out in cloudy puffs. He laid another flower on the pond's surface, a single red rose.

She'd risen from the pond to look at him with bittersweet happiness in her eyes. Wordlessly she'd wrapped her arms around him, and he'd hugged her back tightly. For that time, everything felt right with the world, and they'd lost themselves in their utter warmth. The temperature outside must have been below freezing, but to Jack, that night was perfect in every way. They'd laid under the stars, wrapped around each other, dozing now and again and perfectly content.

When dawn had come, the Goddess rose to her feet, her back to Jack. Befuddled, Jack stood up as well, and before he could say anything else the Goddess turned to him, looking resigned but happy. "My name is Sephia..." she'd said. Jack remembered thinking to himself that that was the most beautiful name he'd ever heard, before she kissed him. Jack had kissed her back, feeling nothing but utter bliss, but her lips began to grow cold. Confused, he pulled away, only to gape at what was happening, unable to scream. She was glowing, and her body was, limb by limb, turning to stone.

"Thank you for everything," was all she said before she became nothing more than a statue.

"Right here...right here," Jack says, hiding his face and pointing to the statue. "I-I don't know what happened..."

Carter sighs, pulling his robes tightly to his body, then holds his hands in a praying position. After a bit of deliberation, he begins to speak. "I think she lost her human form as a failsafe. I'm sure she didn't want to...I've no idea, perhaps some greater power monitors her, or perhaps it happens when she gets too like humans. Perhaps because the two of you didn't know your place... They say humans were punished for stealing the fires of knowledge because they'd been to close to the gods, and their punishment going crazy from knowing the evils of the world. Something like that...

"I'm sure she still exists, omnipresent, but...I doubt she will materialize again in our lifetime."

Snow begins to fall, and Jack will forever use that as an excuse as to the water on his cheeks. Two flakes fall directly in the corners of the statue's eyes, leaving two drops.

"I'm sorry, Jack," Carter says. "There's nothing I can do to help at this point, but...please, come back to the church with me, we'll have tea and talk more about this."

"...I'll catch up," Jack says. Carter nods, understanding, before walking off, and Jack cups the statue's cheek in his hand, muttering the name "Sephia" over and over under his breath. It is a while before he leaves.


End file.
